Cut Man X
by DelinquentDuo
Summary: The year is 21XX. Two rookies find an old pod that may shed some light on the unsolved mysteries of the past. But what could be inside it? Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

Ah...I remember this one. My first fanfic ever. Never actually finished it, due to lack of interest. Anyway, I looked back at this and realized just how badly it was written (or typed, to be specific), so I decided to revise the thing to fit with my current writing style. It is thanks to this that I am the great fanfic author I am today. Anyway, I'm gonna hit you with some pro-log action first. Feel free to comment if you like, but any flamers _will _be hosed down! OH! And before I forget...

**WARNING: Mega Man X and all related material are copyrighted by CAPCOM. Cut Man X is copyrighted by meeeeeeeeee-** :shot:

* * *

The year is AD 21XX. The Maverick threat has been eliminated for the time being. Cities. Neighborhoods. Lives of humans and reploids alike. Many have suffered at the hands of the evil Sigma and his Maverick army. However, many questions still seem to remain unanswered. What happened between Dr. Light and Dr. Wily? What exactly happened in 20XX that could leave the world in such messed up condition? One of Dr. Light's earliest creations may shed some light...

Chapter 1

February. 12:05 p.m.

It was a peaceful winter day. Irregular Navigator Alia was busy scouting some new recruits on a reconnaissance mission from Hunter HQ.A cave they were exploring was rather shallow. Tenfold, a young reploid in blue and green armor with his eyes hidden behind a black visor, had seen bigger dents in hillsides before. What set this cave apart from just any old hole was the abundance of amethyst. Cold winter light filtered in from the mouth of the cave, making the purple gemstones seem to glow with inner fire. Suddenly, he heard Alia's voice on his comlink.

"Tenfold, what's your position?"

Tenfold replied, "I'm in this dark cave. There's some kind of purple rock formations all over the place. I think they're amethyst."

A bubbly female voice replied with glee, "Ooh, amethyst! I love amethyst! I've never seen them from the source before! Can you pinpoint the location, Ten-kun?"

"This isn't a date, Kimberly!" snapped Alia. "The two of you are supposed to be scouting for anything unusual."

Tenfold hesitated and said, "Well…there is something else down here."

"Like what?"

"It's some kind of stasis pod. And…there's a robot in here!"

And at that point, Alia jumped off her chair. "A robot? Is it a reploid?"

"Um…I don't think so." The stasis pod was in good condition, despite the layer of grime that covered its surface. Tenfold wiped a hand across the glass and grimaced at the thick coating of dirt that smeared off onto his fingers. Inside was a robot, one he had never seen before. "It doesn't look like any reploid I know. The robot seems far out of date, but the pod is still maintaining it like it's brand new. Should I open it?"

"Not yet!" Kimberly replied anxiously. "At least wait until I get there!"

Alia snapped again, "That's a negative for _both_ of you. I'm going to send one of our officials down there first to see if it's safe."

"Well, fine," Tenfold said. "As long as it's not X…"

"I'll have to look for X. Alia out."

"Aw man!" Tenfold yelled with a hint of bother. "Kim, you better get over here before 'dad' confiscates this pod."

"Roger that. I'll be right over. Kimberly out."

Tenfold looked down at the robot in the stasis pod. Upon this, he recalls the memory of a young reploid in a synthetic green suit strapped to the inside of an old stasis pod similar to the one Tenfold stood over now. The reploid looked on in quiet fear as he had something forced into his left eye socket. At the same time, Tenfold put a hand over his visor. Behind his visor, it seemed that he felt like crying.

"So, how long have you been sleeping? Three years? Four? Maybe I wasn't even born yet. Even so, I doubt you had to go through the stuff I went through when I was young."

"What kind of stuff?" a voice replied on his comlink, making him jump a bit.

"What the…?! Kim, you said you were out!"

"I was out. You never turned off your comlink."

Tenfold sighed deeply and replied, "Are you getting any closer?"

"I should be. Your signal's getting stronger."

"Good. I'll meet you at the entrance. Tenfold out."

Tenfold cut the signal on his comlink and headed back to the entrance. Exactly 32 seconds later, he smiled as a young female reploid in white armor arrived at the entrance.

"Glad you could make it, Kimberly."

"Yeah, me too. So, where is it?"

Tenfold's smile widened. "Why Kimberly, where's what?"

And at that point, Kimberly's temper started to flare. "What do you mean 'where's what?' You know exactly what I—"

"All right, Kimmy. Calm down. I'm just messin' with you. It's right through here. I think you're really going to like what you see before then."

Tenfold led Kimberly through the cave, allowing her to observe the formations of amethyst on the ground, walls, and ceiling. Kimberly's eyes lit up with the glittering amethyst.

"Oh, it's all so beautiful and bright. It's a shame this place reeks of broken Metools."

"True," Tenfold replied. "But that's nothing compared to what's coming up here."

Eventually, the two young reploids found the old stasis pod. Kimberly wiped some more of the dust off the glass. "What a weird looking robot. That's definitely not a reploid. Are those scissors fixed on its head?"

Tenfold noticed the saw-toothed scissors on the robot's head. He nodded and looked at the robot's face. It was completely red. "It looks like it's in bad shape."

After a brief dramatic pause, Kimberly hesitated and said, "Do you think it's dead?"

A third voice replied, "I doubt it."

The two young reploids jumped in surprise to turn around and see a tall reploid in blue armor. X, commander of the 17th unit, stepped forward and looked at the pod.

"No matter how long it's been, the stasis pod should be still working and the robot inside should be fine." He looked down at the robot and his eyes widened. "An unusual design, but still…I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Tenfold spoke, "So that's a guy?"

"There's no way that thing's a girl," X said, curtly. "Trust me." It was this comment that caused a bead of sweat to roll down the back of Tenfold's helmet.

"What are we going to do with it?" Kimberly asked.

X paused for a second. "I'll call a team over to pick up the pod and the robot. As old as it looks, we might be able to learn something from it and we'll need it in top condition. You two head back to base and talk to Alia for debriefing."

Tenfold and Kimberly both saluted X. "Yes sir."

They both started to walk away from the pod when Tenfold said, "So, what do you think is going to happen?"

"I don't know." Kimberly looked cautiously at Tenfold and said, "Look. About what I heard before, you know before you turned off your comlink... Were you talking about your past? You've never done that before."

"It's nothing I like to talk about. It scares the life out of me just thinking about it."

"…"

"I'm sorry, Kimberly. Now, how about those amethysts you wanted?"

"Do you need a hug?"

"Nah. I'm cool."

"Will you two hurry up?!"

* * *

That's the birth of Cut Man X, as well as the birth of an awesome fanfic author. Anyway, I suppose I have some explaining to do. For any OC's, I'll add on one profile for each chapter, starting with... 

Name: Tenfold  
Nickname: "Ten", "Ten-kun"  
Age: 17  
Sex: Male  
Appearance: Blue armor with green trim, grey eyes hidden behind visor, spiked silver hair, lightning crested helmet (supposedly designed after Quint)  
Weapons: Twin beam sabers hidden behind shoulder armor, Custom ride armor  
Bios: Tenfold was just another reploid who went through a lot of changes when he was very young. When he was 14, he witnessed his younger brother kidnapped by Mavericks. He hasn't seen him since then and became a Maverick Hunter to find him. A natural born gearhead, he salvaged his custom Ride Armor, Little Nelly (named after the little gyrocopter from "You Only Live Twice"), from a junkyard and has been busy customizing it for over a year. His rash decision making and even quick tongue have gotten him in trouble more than once in his life. Tenfold is a melee unit, who can hack his strongest enemies to tiny pieces with a pair of beam sabers he keeps hidden in his shoulder armor. In his spare time, Tenfold sings karaoke at fine diners.

I'd like to provide his appearance, but for some reason, I can't save my URLs on this thing. :sigh: I guess you'll have to ask me personally for what my OCs look like.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all, I'd like to thank Dracozombie for that rather (ahem) extensive review. And because of that, I'd like to clear up a few things.

1. I'm not good at names for female reploids. I don't know where you were going with that either.

2. In my side of the "Mega-Verse," reploids grow and mature like humans do. However, there's a slight difference. A reploid normally starts out in a child body, then at a certain point, has the option to "upgrade" to a teenage body, then an adult body and so on. I'm not sure what stage to qualify X and Zero in, though.

3. I _meant_ to spell _prologue_ that way! It's accidental, yet on-purpose like Homestar Runner. IT'S FUNNY!

**Chapter 2**

A hunter with long blonde hair and red armor, Zero, arrived about half an hour later, along with two other hunters, one in red armor and one in black. X greeted his friend at the mouth of the cave.

"Good to see you here, Zero."

"Good to see you too, X. But enough chitchat. What's the situation?"

"Those two rookies we sent out earlier, Tenfold and Kimberly, found a robot sleeping in this old stasis pod. I figured it would be in our best interests to study it and see what we can learn from it."

"I see." Zero put a hand to his chin before turning to the other hunters. "Jisaku, Discord, help me carry this pod back to base. And, please, try to be careful."

The hunters walked over to the pod and strained to carry it. It seemed quite heavy for one pod. They marched out of the cave with Zero, who turned to see X was still there.

"Hey, X. Aren't you coming?"

"You guys go. I'm going to investigate this cave a little further. Maybe I can find out a little more about this robot. I'll be back in an hour."

"All right. Try not to get hurt in there," Zero said sarcastically as he and the others teleported back to Hunter HQ.

X started to venture deeper into the cave, thinking to himself, _Where have I seen it before?_

30 minutes later…

"So…what is it?"

Back at HQ, Signas was standing outside the HQ Medical Room behind a two way mirror with Zero and Douglas. On the other side of the mirror, however, medical reploid, Lifesaver, is running a diagnostic scan on the robot in the now open pod.

"We're not exactly sure, sir," Zero replied to Signas. "Those two rookies, Tenfold and Kimberly found it in a cave of amethyst. X is doing some more investigating in the same cave."

"I know that."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yes." Signas cleared his throat. "X radioed me about a minute before you arrived."

"Oh. Okay, then."

"It looks like Lifesaver's wrapping things up," Alia said.

Sure enough, Lifesaver was putting away his diagnostic tools and leaving the medical room.

"What's the word, Lifesaver?" asked Signas.

Lifesaver merely put a hand to his forehead in frustrated defeat. "They're definitely outdated, both the pod and the robot. I've never seen anything like it. And such an unusual design, no less. Anyway, all I can make of things is that this robot was used for constructive purposes."

"…" Signas looked at Lifesaver questionably.

"Well, I can't think of any other use for those big honking scissors."

"If you say so."

"Signas!" Alia's voice resonated from a nearby room. "Incoming transmission from X!"

"About time. Everyone to the communications room, now!" Signas ordered.

"But what about…"

"Our little friend will have to wait. If X found what I think he's found, then we might not have to study it the old fashioned way."

"Right, sir."

Everyone ran to the communications room where Alia was calling from and the lights were turned off in the medical room. About a minute afterward, laughter was heard as Tenfold and Kimberly strolled by the medical room. Apparently, Kimberly was laughing at one of Tenfold's jokes.

"So then Commander Onze says, 'Not with _my_ guns, ya won't!'"

"Ha ha! Funny stuff as always, Ten-kun! Hey…" Kimberly stopped as she saw the robot lying dormant. "Isn't that…"

"Yeah, that's the robot I found—"

"Ahem!"

"Uh…" Tenfold sweatdropped, "…_we_ found earlier."

The rookie hunters got closer to the two-way mirror and tried to get a close look at the robot. Now that the pod was open, it was easy to see that the robot had red armor. Even its entire head was red. Kimberly smiled at the site of the robot

"Oh, it looks so cute when it's sleeping!" she swooned.

"Are you sure it's sleeping?" Tenfold said with a grave expression.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't think it's…hey! Something's happening."

"What? What is it?"

"I don't know. A light just turned on the pod, by itself."

Sure enough, there was a light glowing on the pod's console. A soft hum emitted from the pod, as it was reactivated on its own. Kimberly suddenly recoiled in fear and put her arms around Tenfold.

"What are we going to do?"

"We have to find X. He'll know what to do in a situation like this."

"But I want to see what happens next."

"It's too risky, we have to move _now!_"

At this, Kimberly wrenched her gaze away from the window and followed Tenfold upstairs to the communications room. No sooner than that, a cool female voice emitted from the pod's console.

"Run—SYSTEMCHECK.EXE. Scanning…Light Robot No. 003. Mechanics, check. Rolling Cutter, check. Visuals, check. Warning. Memory circuits damaged. Require immediate attention. Scan complete. Now reactivating unit 003."

The robot's gray eyelids twitched as his eyes opened slowly, revealing them to be a cool baby blue. He turned his head and took in every inch of the dark medical room. He held his hand in front of his face and flexed his fingers. He then put his hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Oh man…I think my head's gonna explode…"

He got out of the pod, trying to steady himself on shaky legs, and walked to one of the windows in the medical room. Outside the window was a city covered in a light layer of snow. The sight of the white snow hurt his eyes.

"Where am I?"

He backed away from the window to see his reflection and held a hand up to touch the other hand in his reflection.

"_Who_ am I?"

* * *

Name: Kimberly  
Nickname: Kim, Kimbo, Kim-chan?  
Age: 16 ½  
Sex: Female  
Appearance: White armor with purple trim, green eyes, brown hair  
Weapons: Buster Arrow

One more thing: to Dracozombie, I've taken your advice and decided to remove the BIO from the OC profile. Anyway, we all know who that red robot is, so I won't care if you guys squeal. In the next chapter, our little "hitchhiker" runs loose through the Hunter Base like a little kid. And just what did X find anyway? Remember to keep reading, boys and girls...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I was exploring the amethyst cave trying to find out more about the robot when I found this." X's voice resonated from a speakerbox on Alia's desk as she patched him through to the communications room. "It's a data disc that could have more information on our 'hitchhiker'."

"X, does it say anything?" Alia asked.

"I can't tell," X replied. "The lettering is completely worn off. I mean, don't these people know what ink is?"

"What do you think, Signas?"

Signas and Zero were right behind her, taking in every word. Signas had his hand to his chin when he said, "Bring it in."

"Yes sir. Over and out." And with that, X's com signal was cut.

"Hey guys! We have a situation here!"

The others turned around in shock as Tenfold and Kimberly burst into the communications room, seemingly out of breath.

Zero stepped up to them and looked down at the rookie hunters with a slight frown. "Where have you two been?!"

"That's not important!" Tenfold replied, hastily. "Something's happening with the pod. It just turned on by itself and it started making this obnoxious hum."

"Tenfold, Kimberly, we're heading back to the medical room!" Zero said, heading for the door.

"I'm coming with you," said Signas. "I want to see what this commotion is all about. Alia, you stay here and wait for X to come back."

"Yes sir!"

"Let's hurry, people!"

Signas and Zero headed out of the communications room with Tenfold and Kimberly; Alia turned back and opened a manga book.

"About time they left. I wonder what happens to Yugi next." (A/N: You heard her. I decided that she likes _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ in this one. Nothing wrong with that, right?)

Signas and the other hunters arrived at the medical room where the robot's pod was. However, Zero immediately saw something wrong.

"Where'd he go?"

Immediately afterwards, an explosion was heard.

"What was that?!" asked Signas.

Tenfold replied, "It sounded like it came from…THE GARAGE!"

"GAAAAAH! How do you turn this thing off?!"

The red robot was in the cockpit of a large gray mechanical suit called a Ride Armor, screaming as he worked furiously at the controls. The suit was launching missiles from its shoulder pods and slamming into the walls…and other things.

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT! Someone stop this crazy thing!"

He pounded his fists on the control panel and the ride armor stopped moving. Its left arm fell off its socket and clattered on the garage floor. The garage was now filled with smoke and cluttered with tools and broken Chaser parts. The Ride Armor toppled over and the red robot stumbled out with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Well, I won't be going back there for a while."

He snuck out in the direction of the communication room. However, about a 30 seconds later…

"AHHHHH! My beautiful Ride Armor! MY BABY!"

The other hunters had arrived at the garage and surveyed the damage. Tenfold was horrified as he mourned for his custom ride armor which now lay in a smoking heap minus its left arm.

"Well, he was definitely here alright," Signas said calmly.

"It's Encino Man all over again," Zero replied.

Kimberly put a hand on Tenfold's shoulder. "Ten, are you all right?"

"I spent a whole month alone working to get the money to salvage that Ride Armor, and even longer to customize it perfectly. Now, it's RUINED! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY?!"

Tenfold burst into tears and buried his face in Kimberly's chest.

"Aw, there, there," Kimberly said softly. "It'll be alright. I'll help you fix your ride armor after we find the robot."

Tenfold merely grinned. _I feel better already._

"Ohh, Seto, you're so dreamy…"

Alia swooned as she pored over her _Yu-Gi-Oh_ manga. As she read, she heard the door to the communications room open. She turned around to expect X, back from his mission. The person she saw was not X. It was a red robot with a pair of scissors on his head, a few cuts on his face, and eyes still as wide as dinner plates, but for a different reason.

"Huh?" Alia gasped. "How did you get up here?"

"…"

Then, a warm smile lit up on her face. "Don't talk much, do you?"

The robot blinked, totally at a loss for words. _Who is this woman? She's…_

* * *

Just for the record, Jisaku and Discord in the second chapter were merely throwaway characters to help keep the plot moving. And due to it's unpopularity, I just might discontinue this fic, but I am willing to put up one more chapter. In the next one, Cut Man is bombarded by questions from Signas and the other hunters. Headaches ensue.

And yes. Tenfold is a big perv.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"We came as soon as you called, Ali…huh?"

After receiving their latest transmission, the Hunters returned to the communications room staring face to face with Alia and the red robot, who was nothing less than scared stiff.

"Uh…" the red robot hesitated, "I suppose you're wondering about that mess with the mech…"

"That was you?!" Tenfold said, infuriated. "_You_ broke my Ride Armor?!"

"Didn't mean to…"

In a second, Tenfold found his arms being restrained by Zero and Kimberly, as he struggled furiously to lay his hands on the red robot, who cowered behind Alia. "I spent a whole year to get her perfect and now I have to do it all over again! Wait till I get my hands on you!"

"Please, take it easy, Ten-kun!"

"Try to contain yourself, soldier!"

"You broke my baby! YOU BROKE MY BEAUTIFUL BABY!"

In that order, it was Kimberly, then Zero, then Tenfold again. But at that moment, Signas stepped forward and spoke. "Tenfold, stand down. That's an order. Whether it is in battle or in life, a hunter never loses his cool."

"But…my ride armor…"

Signas stepped over to Tenfold and reared down to his face. "I'll transfer some funds so you can order new parts. Now, I'm only going to ask you one more time to _calm down._"

Tenfold glared at Signas' intimidating face for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Then, he stood up straight and Zero and Kimberly let go of his arms, Kimberly, with a look of concern on her face.

"Tenfold…?"

Tenfold sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Kim. I should never have lost my temper like that. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me. But if that little creep touches my things _again_…"

"What did I just say?!" Signas shouted.

Tenfold's eyes widened behind his visor as he stared at Signas. He walked out of the communications room, with ice in his circuitry. Kimberly followed after him before the doors closed.

"Ten-kun…are you alright?"

"I'm all right. I-I just need to be alone right now."

Tenfold headed through a door to the left, leaving Kimberly with a blank expression on her face. However, instead of heading towards the living quarters he took another turn and headed back to the garage…

In a smaller room used for interrogation, the red robot sat in a small chair, cowering under the oversized shadows of Signas and Lifesaver, at the ready with a pen and notepad.

"My name is Signas. I am the supreme commanding officer of the Maverick Hunters. This is my associate, Lifesaver, chief medical reploid. Now, there's no need to be afraid."

"Who said I was afraid?!" The robot yelled defiantly, but there was no denying it. The red robot was shaking like a leaf in that chair.

"I'm not sure how long you've been in that pod," Lifesaver said, "but it's possible that, from gathering all that dust from your pod, all your memories may not be intact."

"We're just going to ask you some questions," Signas said. "If you don't know the answers, we'll understand. Are you ready?"

"I guess so," the robot said, looking down at the floor.

"First question: How long _have_ you been in that pod?"

The robot looked at Signas with skepticism on his face. "Um…ow!" A small spark emitted from his forehead, somewhere around his scissors. Lifesaver had to back away, just in case the sparks would burn his notepad, but Signas showed no signs of fear. Not that one could blame him. "I'll…have to get back to you on that."

"Okay then, question two," Signas continued. "Lifesaver has told me that you may have used those scissors for constructive purposes. What I want to know is why they're on your head."

"I don't really know. I guess I'm just built that way."

Lifesaver leaned forward a bit. "Do you even have a name?"

"Argh!" Another spark emitted from the robot's head. "I saw a label on that pod thingy. I think it's my name…C…Cut Man."

"Cut Man?" Signas asked, "That's an unusual name. Is that the name your manufacturer gave you?"

"I can't remember." Cut Man looked down at the floor again. "I'm sorry if I'm not much help."

"That's not true," Lifesaver replied. Like many other times after his awakening, Cut Man was confused.

"It isn't?"

"Your name alone may be all we need. That is, until X gets back."

"X?"

Suddenly, Signas and Lifesaver received a serious shock when an alarm blasted through the HQ and the halls started to flash with red lights. No one was more shocked than Cut Man as he clinged to Signas' leg like a scared 4-year old. Alia's voice resonated through the halls.

"Attention! All available hunters report to the communications room immediately! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"

"Mr. Signas, what's happening?!" asked Cut Man.

"That's a Maverick alert! I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to put our little 'survey' on hold. Lifesaver, we'll need you on standby!"

"Yes sir!"

Signas and Lifesaver bolted out of the small room and headed in different directions. Cut Man hesitated for a few moments then followed Signas back to the communications room.

Less than a minute later…

"What's the situation?"

Signas, Zero, Tenfold, and Kimberly were all in the communications room, where Alia was furiously working at the control panel.

"There's a group of mechaniloids causing a ruckus at Memorial Hall!"

"That's the place where I fought Colonel during the Repli-Force coup!" Zero stated, keeping his arms folded.

"Yes. The place seems to be crawling with Metools and Sinedroppers. I'm not sure if this is Maverick activity, but keep your weapons ready, just in case."

Zero turned to the two rookie hunters. "Tenfold, Kimberly, you two are coming with me. This'll be a good one for you two to warm up on."

"Yes sir." They both saluted.

"Hey…um…Can I come too?"

Everyone turned around in shock to see the timid Cut Man standing in the doorway. Zero was about to tell him off immediately, but…

"Listen…" Cut Man said, quietly, "I know I might not be much help…but I just can't stay here and wait. Besides…I think…I might remember something if I do…"

Zero lowered his hand before turning to his commanding officer. "What do you think, Signas?"

After a dramatic pause, Signas replied, "Fine. These rookies will need all the help they'll get, but…"

"But what?"

Signas stepped over to Cut Man overshadowing him again. Cut Man tried his best to keep his legs from shaking. Signas handed Cut Man a small handgun.

"You'll need a weapon. It's small, yes, but it fires fast."

Cut Man looked down at his new weapon and scratched his head. "I gotta tell you, I'm not sure if I've ever used one of these before."

"It's not too hard, just point and shoot. Alia, I want you to spot our Hunters, and guest, on this one."

"Yes sir!"

"Hunters, MOVE OUT!"

* * *

All right. Now that I'm in this far, I may as well continue. As you may guess, there's a huge battle coming up on Chapter 5, plus we get to see the new guys try out their new weapons. All this, PLUS a new profile. Keep reading, y'all!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Memorial Hall. A normally quiet place in Japan, covered in snow. The place was built like a Greek Temple. The protruding roof of the Hall was held up by giant pillars of slate. And in front of the building itself was a magnificent marble statue of the Repliforce Colonel with his arm around his sister, and Zero's ex-girlfriend, Iris. Inside the hall were painted portraits of humans and Reploids that were more than worthy of having their face on baseball cards: Sigma, the first leader of the Maverick Hunters; Dr. Cain, the father of reploids and former leader of the Maverick Hunters; Dr. Thomas Light, a man famous for his robotics research (and X's creator, but we already knew that); General, valiant leader of the Repliforce; a recent portrait of Mega Man X, the reploid prototype, and others whose names escape me at the moment.

The place would almost make a nice tourist attraction if it weren't for the rampaging mechaniloids. Sinedroppers, small mechaniloids that fly like helicopters, were dropping bombs all over the place, as well as other parts of the Hall itself. Metools, little hardhat mechaniloids designed for mining, were creating shockwaves with their pickaxes and shooting plasma shots from their mouths. One of these shockwaves blasted apart the giant oak doors to Memorial Hall. At their rate of fire, it seemed Memorial Hall would fall to bits and pieces within the hour. However…

Two of the Sinedroppers were getting their bombs ready when they were struck down by an array of light arrows. Three of the Metools were diced to pieces, obviously the work of a beam saber. Zero, Cut Man, and the other hunters had arrived just in time.

"All right everyone!" Zero commanded. "You all know your positions! Tenfold, you and I are going full frontal."

"Right!"

"Kimberly, you and Cut Man are on backup!"

"Roger!"

"Okay…"

"You all know what to do! Tenfold, let's plow the road!"

Tenfold and Zero charged into battle. Kimberly's buster formed on her right arm as she took aim on more of the Sinedroppers. However, her attention was on something else. Or rather, someone else…

"Um…Cut Man? Are you all right?"

Cut Man aimed his hand blaster, though his arms were very shaky. Actually, his entire body was quaking where he stood, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

_I…I'm actually scared. But I have to do this…_

Zero sliced through several of the Metools so quickly, his slices seemed to be mere blurs. The Mets exploded almost seconds later.

"Tenfold! They're getting inside the building! Stop them!"

"Yes sir!"

Tenfold drew a pair of beam sabers from his shoulder armor and rushed inside the Memorial Hall building. A pair of Metools by the door turned around and started scampering like crazy, occasionally headbutting each other by accident. They were both skewered through their helmets and Tenfold slammed them both on the ground like sledgehammers.

"This stuff is priceless! GET OUT!"

Meanwhile, the Sinedroppers were falling at a steady pace as Kimberly's energy arrows pierced through them like butter. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kimberly actually seemed to be enjoying herself, as evidenced by the look on her face.

"This weapon's great! I can't believe the accuracy on this buster! How are you holding up, Cut Man? Huh?"

Cut Man hasn't moved an inch. Though he still had his blaster locked and loaded, he had practically fainted on his feet. His eyes had retreated into those gray eyelids. He woke up, however, after Kimberly smacked him in the back of the head.

"What is wrong with you?!" Kimberly yelled.

"I've never done this sort of thing before, okay?!" Cut Man retorted.

"Look out!"

Cut Man looked up to see a Sinedropper approaching him. Kimberly's bow-prongs extended as she readied another energy arrow in her buster.

"I got it!"

"No! Let me!" Cut Man kept his eyes closed as he aimed his blaster at the Sinedropper. "Tell me if I hit it…"

He heard a shot ring out from his blaster. He barely opened his left eye to peek at the Sinedropper. It was still flying, though there was a hole blasted clean through its eye. Cut Man fired two more shots and the Sinedropper crumbled to the ground in a heap of smoke and rubble. Cut Man was nothing less than shocked at what he just did.

"…"

"Well? Are you feeling better?"

And for the first time, he smiled.

"Actually…I feel great!"

Cut Man continued blasting Sinedropper after Sinedropper from the sky, the only explosions coming from the bombs they carried. Kimberly simply grinned.

_You're going to do great, Cut Man. I know you will._

Kimberly loaded her buster again and carefully aimed for her next target.

* * *

Now we're getting into the good parts! In the next chapter it's BOSS BATTLE time! And we get a short glimpse of the actual "bad guys" in the series. Remember to keep reading! 


	6. Boss Battle!

Chapter 6

Back inside Memorial Hall, Tenfold continued to make shredded mincemeat out of the Metools that were tearing up the place. Several tried to make a break for it, but their legs were too short and stubby to get anywhere fast.

"I know there's more around here somewhere…" Tenfold said to himself before taking a shockwave to the back. One of the Metools swung its pickaxe in delight. Tenfold got back up to his feet and glared at it. The Metool panicked and hid under its helmet, but Tenfold flipped it on its back and stabbed it through its underside. The Metool exploded on the spot. Tenfold put his sabers away and punched the air with his fist.

"YEAH! Do I rock or what?! I'm number one! I'm number one! I'm number…eh?"

A rumbling noise is heard inside memorial hall. A giant shadow cast itself over Tenfold, whose victory dance was rudely interrupted. Tenfold's eyes widened with fear as he watched a red eye light up in the giant shadow. He knew what he had to do…

Zero sliced through two more Metools and a Sinedropper outside the Hall when Tenfold ran out the doors screaming.

"_**RUUUUN!"**_

Tenfold was so panicked that he didn't even realize that he slammed right into the statue of Colonel and Iris. The Colonel half shook and broke off, falling over backwards, and trapping Tenfold underneath it, the brim of Colonel's hat mere inches away from Tenfold's visor.

Zero rushed over to help Tenfold out from under the statue.

"What the hell were you thinking, running around like a maniac?!" Zero yelled. "What's going on in there?!"

Tenfold immediately pointed back toward the doors. His hand was shaking even worse than Cut Man's. "There's a b-b-big…a…huge bug!"

Zero looked back at the doors and frowned. There was nothing there. "Tch. You're seeing things. Now, on the count of three, we'll roll off that statue…"

In that instant, a low screeching noise was heard from Memorial Hall. Zero turned to the doors as the remaining Mechaniloids retreated. The roof above the front stairs collapsed as well as the pillars holding it up as a giant spider-type mechaniloid rears itself out of Memorial Hall. Its face was covered by a shield. Its eight legs left deep impressions in the concrete around them as it screeched again, the noise echoed in the air around it.

"Seeing things, am I?" Tenfold yelled.

"I'll have to get back to you," Zero said as he left Tenfold under the statue.

"W-Wha…WAIT! Get me out of here!" Tenfold strained to push the statue off him, but it wouldn't budge an inch. Tenfold continued struggling as the giant mechaniloid stomped closer to him. Zero shouted with rage as he sliced the mechaniloid's legs. However, after all that swinging and shouting, he barely left a dent on its shell.

"This won't end well."

The mechaniloid kicked Zero aside using its legs and Zero landed right where the Memorial Hall doorway used to be. As it continued its march, stomping whatever was in its way, it suddenly stopped after feeling an energy bolt on its backside.

"HEY!"

Cut Man and Kimberly were blasting away with their weapons for all their worth, but neither one could seem to put a dent in the mechaniloid's armor even when it turned around to face them. The shield behind the mechaniloid's face opened up, revealing a giant red eye.

"Is that its weak spot?" Cut Man asked.

"Who cares?!" Kimberly yelled. "Keep shooting!"

Even all that concentrated fire aimed at the mechaniloid's eye couldn't stop it. They seemed to just bounce right off. The eye seemed to be gathering energy as it started to glow brighter and brighter. A second later, the eye let out a blast of laser energy, creating a huge explosion, blowing Kimberly and Cut Man sky high.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Cut Man shouted.

Kimberly landed on her left shoulder, rolling on the ground till she hit a wall. Cut Man, somehow, managed to survive the fall, but got his scissors stuck in a tree (while they're still on his head). Cut Man pulled himself off the tree, just in time to see the giant mechaniloid hovering over the Colonel statue, where Tenfold is still struggling. Its shield opened as it readied another energy blast. _Okay, Cut Man. Think. Energy weapons can't cut through that shell. Then what can? Wait, that's it!_

Kimberly watched in shock as Cut Man charged down to the battlefield.

"What are you doing?!"

"Saving Tenfold's life!"

Tenfold closed his eyes as he waited for the blast.

"Aw man…I can't die! I still have to…!"

Suddenly, the energy charge stopped. Tenfold opened his eyes and saw exactly why the mechaniloid didn't shoot: the eye was broken. He looked around and saw Cut Man, minus the scissors. It seemed that Cut Man threw his scissors like a boomerang and damaged the mechaniloid's laser eye! That's when Cut Man punched the sky.

"WHOOOO YEAH! I'm awesome!"

"Cut Man! It's still moving!" Kimberly shouted.

Indeed, Cut Man stopped his victory celebration and looked up. The mechaniloid continued to stomp around randomly, as it couldn't see without its eye. It stomped towards Cut Man whose eyes widened in shock once again. He prepared for the worst as the mechaniloid raised its leg toward him, but…

A flash of red appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Cut Man, rolling them both out of the way just as the mechaniloid gouged another hole in the ground.

"Zero!" Cut Man said, surprised. "You…saved me?"

"Had to look out for my teammates," Zero said with a smirk. "Don't expect me to do it again, though. Alia! Have you analyzed that 'loid yet?"

Alia's voice responded in Zero's helmet.

"Yes. Though the weapon is inactive, it's now going berserk."

"I can see that."

"The mechaniloid's power generator is on its back. You'll have to take that out in order to shut it down!"

"Right! Cut Man, stay out of trouble!"

"Yes sir."

_Iris, forgive me, but I'm gonna need your help on this one._

Zero ran to the marble Iris statue and leapt off her shoulders to reach the giant mechaniloid. He landed on its back, upon which the mechaniloid started bucking like a disconcerted mule. Zero hung on for dear life, with his saber in his teeth. He found the generator under a green dome on the mechaniloid's back. Zero took his saber out of his mouth, powered up his blade and shoved it as hard as he could into the generator. In a few seconds, the mechaniloid ground to a halt. An explosion was seen behind the mechaniloid's shielded eye as it gracefully crashed to the ground. Zero hopped off its back and ran as fast as he could.

"EVERYONE! GET DOWN!"

The hunters took cover as the mechaniloid exploded beautifully, parts flying everywhere. Zero's saber, which was still inside the mechaniloid's generator, was seen spinning in the air. Zero managed to catch it and holster it without skipping a beat.

Kimberly and the others got to their feet to see what happened. The giant mechaniloid spider was nothing less than severely damaged. Its legs had completely severed from its midsection. The shield behind the eye was gone; the glass lens was shattered, revealing the inner workings which were completely fried.

The hunter team shouted for victory, congratulating one another, especially Cut Man who was given props for taking out the laser eye.

"Yeah. That was pretty cool. Oh, that reminds me."

Cut Man strolled over to the mechaniloid and plucked his scissors out of its remains, fixing them to his head once again.

"I say we head back to base and celebrate!"

"Best idea I've heard all day!" Kimberly exclaimed.

"You guys go," Zero said. "I have something to do here."

"All right. See you back at base. Alia, take us away!"

Kimberly and Cut Man teleported back to Hunter HQ in a flash of light. Zero however remained behind. His brown eyes glistened in the sun as he gazed at the Iris statue. He sighed deeply as he envisioned himself up there with his arm around his love once again.

"Uh…Zero?"

Zero snapped out of his daydreaming to see poor Tenfold still struggling under the Colonel statue. He looked like he was going to cry behind his visor.

"Can I _please_ get some help here?"

Zero sweatdropped as he got down to help Tenfold out from under the Colonel statue. However, a pair of unseen eyes watched them from what remained of the Memorial Hall rooftop.

"So…that's a robot master, hmm? My client will be interested to hear about this."

* * *

Ooh! I wonder who _that_ could be. Anyway, in the next chapter, X returns and we finally get to see what's on that disc. And before I forget, here's the next character profile. It's not an OC, but I'll make it look that way.

Name: Cut Man  
Serial Number: DRN-003  
Age: 100+  
Sex: Not yet  
Appearance: Synthetic red and gray suit, saw-toothed scissors fixed to forehead  
Weapons: Standard issue handgun (issued by Signas himself), Rolling Cutter


	7. Pizza Time!

Chapter 7

Later, Cut Man and the hunters had returned to base. Zero and the rookie hunters were in Tenfold's living quarters celebrating their victory by means of pizza (pepperoni, mushroom, the works) and _extra_-caffeinated soft drinks. Zero was surveying the action while chowing down on a slice of pizza with lots of olives. Tenfold, who was sitting on the top bunk of his bed, was particularly pleased by Cut Man's awesome boomerang attack.

"I'm telling you that was awesome!" he said through a mouthful of sausage. "How did you know what to do?"

"I don't really know," Cut Man replied. "It just sort of…came to me. My memory circuits have been damaged for quite some time. Maybe that's a sign that they're starting to repair on their own."

Kimberly, who was on the bottom bunk with Cut Man, said "That's a very good sign. I hope you get your memories back soon."

Just then, everyone froze as X arrived at the door. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he surveyed the scene, Cut Man still chewing on his pepperoni. X folded his arms and frowned.

"I can't believe you guys. Zero told me everything that happened since I was gone and just because you destroyed a potentially dangerous mechaniloid doesn't give you the right to throw such a raucous party…"

Tenfold and the others sighed depressingly before X said enthusiastically, "…without ME! You know I love pepperoni!"

Tenfold smiled again and said, "Well come on in! The more the merrier! And this pizza ain't gonna eat itself!"

X joined in and grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza when he set his eyes on Cut Man, who just finished his own slice of pepperoni. He held out his hand to the robot.

"You must be Cut Man."

Cut Man looked up at X for a minute. Those eyes looked familiar…

"Zero told me everything about you. I am X, commander of the Maverick Hunters' 17th Unit. I see you've already acquainted yourself with our 11th unit."

X looked at Tenfold who was dancing with Kimberly to _Underneath it All_ by Gwen Stefani. Kimberly was laughing like there was no tomorrow.

"Uh…yeah," Cut Man replied.

"Officer X," Tenfold asked, "what brings you up here?"

"Well, after analyzing this data disc, I found out it belongs to the deceased robotics researcher, Dr. Thomas Light."

"Thomas…Light? YOWWW!" Cut Man put his hand to his ear as another spark shot out from his head, causing X to back off just a little bit.

"Uh…anyway, I think the recording on this disc may hold some answers to your past."

Cut Man tilted his head. "How can you be sure?"

"Because I found it close to the site where we found your stasis pod."

Cut Man hopped to his feet and swallowed the rest of his pizza. "Alright. Let's see what it's got."

"Zero, I want you to come with us."

Just then, the music stopped. X, Zero, and Cut Man looked as Tenfold and Kimberly frowned at them.

"Something wrong, kids?"

"We want to watch it too!" Tenfold said, disgruntled.

"Yeah," Kimberly agreed folding her arms. "Not only did we find Cut Man's pod, but we're his friends. It's only fair!"

X sighed. "What do you say, Cut Man?"

And Cut Man simply shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

Minutes later…

Everyone was back in the communications room, along with Signas, Alia, and Lifesaver. Alia put the disc in her computer and entered a sequence on her keyboard. On her monitor, the word "PASSWORD" was displayed along with 8 blank spaces.

"Hmm…password, eh?"

Alia typed an 8-letter word on her keyboard without even thinking.

"PASSWORD ACCEPTED."

Signas leaned over to her and asked, "What did you type in for the password?"

"The same word everyone else uses: password."

Everyone groaned as more words filled the screen.

"Now playing transmission. Date: April 28, 20XX."

A huge eye was on the screen, as well as the voice of a fatherly old man. "Are you sure this thing is on, Roll?" Everyone sweatdropped, of course.

"Yes. The little red light thingy is on, but you don't have much battery time. And might I suggest you step back from the camera?" responded the voice of what sounded like a young girl.

"Right. Ahem."

The old man stepped back. He looked exactly the same as the portrait in Memorial Hall, which was now broken. He had large brown eyes and a fluffy white Santa Claus beard.

"My name is Thomas X. Light. Most of you may remember my earliest robotic creations and how they went completely berserk when Dr. Wily reprogrammed them. The only ones who haven't were three of my earliest creations: Mega Man, who is right behind me; Roll, who is operating the camera; and my oldest boy, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. My six robots whom I designed for industrial purposes were currently AWOL. That is, until this day. On an expedition, I was able to find my fourth. Cut Man's remains were in an abandoned subway tunnel and I brought him back to my lab for analysis. Though his body was completely broken, Wily's programming remained unchanged. Through a painful process of trial and error, I was eventually able to delete Wily and his program from Cut Man's memory banks, though unfortunately, I wound up damaging them badly."

Dr. Light sighed as he looked out a window in the room to see a city nearly half destroyed.

"It's a shame. All of this, just because I wanted to make the world a better place. All of this, just because I wanted to make peace between humans and robots." Dr. Light felt a vein pulse in his head. "All of this, just because my first lab assistant had a severe ego problem. But it can't be helped now."

Dr. Light made his way back to the center of the room.

"I'm hoping to amend my ways by bringing back the rest of my children and deleting Wily's program as I did with Cut Man. However, I am unable to completely restore their memories. My only hope is that, in the near future, someone can."

At that point…

"Uh…Dr. Light?"

"What is it, Mega Man?"

Dr. Light turned to a young robot in blue armor looking out the window. This robot looked almost exactly like X!

"I think we have a problem."

The hunters lurched forward in shock as an explosion filled the monitor. The room was filled with ever growing flames. The battery symbol from the camera was blinking. There was no trace of Dr. Light or the others. However, Cut Man's pod was still there. Amidst the flames was a black shadow with billowy hair, glowing white eyes, and a blue "W" symbol on its forehead.

"This is a death sentence to every human on earth. I'm coming for you!"

With that, the camera shut off and there was static on Alia's monitor.

* * *

Ooh, cliffhanger-y! Most of you _should_ know who that bishonen shadow is. Anyway, in the next chapter, Unit 11 wraps things up and heads to bed and Cut Man has a strange dream about his past...


	8. Aftermath

Chapter 8

The hunters continued to watch the static on Alia's monitor; Zero's eyes were wider than anyone's, including Cut Man's. Cut Man looked down at the ground again, looking more depressed than ever.

"Cut Man?" Signas asked. "Are you all right?"

"I don't remember," Cut Man said, quietly. "I don't remember any of them. The old man, the girl, the bishonen shadow (Zero cleared his throat), none of them. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's no big deal, Cut Man," X replied sympathetically. "I don't know much about Dr. Light either. From what I've seen in his holograms, I know he's definitely my creator. Other than that…"

"Yeah…" Cut Man sighed, "It's just been a long day. Is there a place I can crash for the night?"

"I guess you can take my bottom bunk," Tenfold suggested.

"Thanks." Cut Man smiled again.

"We could all use some rest," Signas said. "Me? I need to make a phone call."

"You heard the man, Hunters," Zero said. "Oh, and Cut Man?"

"Yah?"

"Commander Signas and I were talking and we were wondering if you would consider becoming a Maverick Hunter."

Everyone turned their heads toward Zero and Cut Man, who's eyes widened yet again. "E-Excuse me?"

"I saw how you handled the situation with that spider 'loid. We're hoping you could at least consider. Heck, with a little training, you could probably be even better than X here."

"Y-You're being too modest, Zero," X said, sheepishly.

"I…uh…" Cut Man looked around and saw everyone staring at him; his legs were shaking again. "I'll…think about it."

"Even if you don't want to be a hunter, that's okay," Signas replied, "You're still more than welcome to make Maverick Hunter HQ your home."

"Thank you." Cut Man got to his feet.

"Back to your quarters, everyone."

----CMX------CMX----

Cut Man was back in Tenfold's living quarters, lying back on the bottom bunk. His scissors were lying on Tenfold's desk, held shut by a rubber band. Tenfold took off his helmet, revealing a head of wild, spiked silver hair and a big scar around his right eye. Cut Man couldn't see it so clearly, though, as Tenfold already turned off the lights and climbed a ladder to the top bunk.

"I still think that was awesome," Tenfold said enthusiastically, "when you chucked those scissors at that giant 'loid's eye. Of course, you just saved my life so I probably owe you one."

"Tenfold?"

"And then…huh? What's up?"

"Do you really think I can do it?"

"…"

"Become a Maverick Hunter, I mean?"

"That's not my decision to make. Personally, I think it would be cool to have you on the force, though."

"I guess so, but…" Cut Man turned to his side. "…am I really good enough?"

Tenfold deepened his voice and spoke like some kind of sage. "That's a question only you can answer. Well, 'night."

"Good night."

They both fall asleep, Tenfold snuggling up with a little teddy bear. Cut Man just laid back on his bunk, his hands under his head. His eyes closed slowly as he watched the winter snow fall slowly outside Tenfold's window.

----CMX------CMX----

"Get up, you wimp." 

Cut Man was on his knees, gasping for breath. Before him was a dark silhouette with a gruff voice and hair that literally burned like fire.

"I said get up! How do you expect to prove yourself to Dr. Light if you can't even hold your own for two minutes?"

"You're too strong…Fire Man."

"That's no excuse. Get on your feet, brother. I know you're stronger than this."

Cut Man struggles to his feet and takes his scissors off his head. The silhouette ID'ed as Fire Man shifts to a martial arts stance.

"At least you're trying."

The two charged at each other, Fire Man's fist burning. A clashing noise was heard as they now both had their backs to each other. Smoke emitted from Cut Man's shoulder. He fell to his knees again, clutching his shoulder.

"Now, I'm impressed, Cut Man."

The other red robot stepped out of the shadows, with a hand to his chest plate.

"You actually left a mark on my armor. Not even that blue runt, Rock, could touch me."

"I guess I'm getting better."

"I want you to make me a promise, Cut Man."

"A promise?"

"No matter what happens, I want you to become stronger, older brother. No excuses."

"I'll promise, as long as you do the same, little brother."

Their conversation was interrupted as they were overshadowed by an old man with wiry gray hair, laughing at the top of his lungs.

"What the…?!" Cut Man's eyes widened.

"What the hell is this?!" Fire Man yelled.

Elsewhere…

"Are you sure?"

"There's no doubt in my mind. He is definitely one of the original robot masters."

"Fine, Cobra. Continue to watch him and…keep an eye on X and Zero as well."

"Yeah, boss."

* * *

Duo-san: Oooh! Is that plot development I smell? The next chapter is a favorite by many: the infamous FANSERVICE chapter! But I won't say whose it is...yet. 


	9. The Infamous Fanservice Chapter!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got too absorbed in revising my Delinquent Duo fic. By the way, for the anonymous viewer, bdun, no. I will not be making any fanfics for the other robot masters. This, being my first fic, was something of a test run.

Chapter 9

Cut Man woke up early the next morning, rubbing his eyes. Tenfold was still sound asleep. He got out of his bed and looked out the window. Though it finally stopped snowing, the city around Maverick Hunter HQ was covered in a thick blanket of fresh white powder. Suddenly, Cut Man realized why he got up so early.

"Who was that guy?"

He recalled the dream he had last night as he picked up his scissors and fixed them to his head. The dream about the other red robot, known only to Cut Man himself as Fire Man.

"Is he really my brother? Hmm. I can't think about that right now."

Cut Man left the room and closed the door behind him. At the moment, he needed something to eat. After a minute of walking down the corridors, he eventually found a layout of Hunter HQ posted on one of the walls. The "Mess Hall" was located on the first floor. As he headed down the hall once again, he heard a snatch of song nearby from a familiar female voice. About two doors down, one of the doors was half open. Cut Man was very close to the door knob…

_I probably shouldn't. Someone might be watching…_

A mischievous grin stretched onto his face as he peeked behind the door to room 214. What he saw on the other side changed his life…a little. Alia was sitting in front of a beauty mirror humming an old tune called _Nemureru Shiro_. She was wearing a flowery purple nightgown and part of her blonde hair was in curlers. From looking at the mirror at a certain angle, Cut Man could notice she was very ample in the bust area. On the desk, there was her headset, an open case of make up, and a picture of herself with a tall reploid in a white lab coat. She was putting on some pink lipstick when she saw a face in her mirror: Cut Man's face. She turned around quickly, but Cut Man was already gone. She looked at her door for a few seconds, and then she quietly went back to her make up.

"Well, that was an interesting way to start my day."

Cut Man was still grinning like an idiot as he continued down the hall to the stairs. What he didn't expect was to see Signas waiting at the stairway. He was now officially busted.

"You're up early."

"Mr. Signas! I was just…uh…looking for the Mess Hall."

"And getting some face time with one of our top navigators?"

"No! I mean, I was just…how long were you standing there?"

"I wasn't. We do have security cameras and you just happened to be standing in front of _that_ one a second too long."

Cut Man looked at a security camera right above him and smiled nervously. His legs were quaking again. Signas, however, smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Cut Man."

"Huh?"

"I used to do it all the time when I was a rookie. I was a real jock back then."

They both laughed as they went downstairs.

"So, Cut Man, have you thought about our offer?"

"Which one?"

"About joining the Maverick Hunters. That hit on the spider mechaniloid's eye was dead on. We could use someone like you."

_I want you to become stronger, older brother…_

Those words rung through Cut Man's head like a bell as he put a finger to his mouth. "Well, I suppose I could for the time being, y'know, see what it's like."

"I'm glad to hear it. So why did you get up so early?"

"Well…I had a dream…"

"Go on."

And so, Cut Man went into his unusual dream, about Fire Man and the silhouette of the demented old man. By the time he was finished, they reached the Mess Hall.

"I'm not entirely sure," Signas put his hand to his chin, "but I think this is a sign that you're starting to regain your memories."

"You think so too?"

"Yes. But for now, I suggest you put your past behind you. Right now, we have a dangerous world outside these walls that needs us."

"I understand, Mr. Signas."

"Oh. And just Signas will be fine."

"Right."

"Whenever you're finished eating, report to the training room at 1000 hours. I'll see if I can have X meet you there."

"Okey dokey."

Cut Man sat down at one of the tables with a tray of scrambled eggs and bacon.

_I don't think I've ever had real friends before…have I?_

As he ate, his mind instantly flashed back to that pleasing image of Alia preening herself. That mischievous fox-like grin curled up on his face again.

* * *

Cut Man, you naughty boy! 

For the record, in the original version of the fic, Alia was actually humming a tune from InuYasha. I can't remember which one. Nemureru Shiro actually means "Sleeping Castle" and is the song from Souseiseki's (Rozen Maiden) drama CD. But enough about that. In the next chapter, Cut Man meets his training partner, but it's _not_ X. Who is it? Just keep reading, y'all.

Isn't fanservice great??


	10. Time to Train

Well! This is the first time I've barely gotten any comments on my fanservice chapter! I'm a little unsettled. But enough about that. As much as I could revise this next one, it's still rather short. And pointless. Short and pointless. Yeah.

Chapter 10

After breakfast, almost every hunter in HQ was awake by now (Alia, more than anyone). Cut Man did as Signas told and, after looking at another HQ layout, reported to the training facility at 10:00. The place was large, covered with white paint which was peeling in some corners, supported by large pillars which seemed to be made from stainless steel. He looked around only to see no one there.

"Hello?" Cut Man's voice echoed through the whole facility. There was no response for a few seconds until.

"Hi! You're early!"

The cheerful voice of the young reploid girl, Kimberly, answered his call.

"I thought X was going to be here…"

"Oh, he's already sparring with Zero. Those guys are really intense, even for a practice round! Anyway, Signas assigned me instead. You don't mind, right?"

"Uh…" Cut Man felt himself blushing, which was really something because his entire face was normally red. "No! Not at all!"

"I'm still new at being a hunter myself, so to make things fair, can you _not_ use your weapons?"

"How about neither of us use our weapons?" He suggested as he took his scissors off his head and threw them aside.

"That's fine with me." Kimberly disengages her Buster Arrow on her right arm. "I don't want you to go easy on me, just because I'm a girl!"

"All right, just as long as you don't hold back because I'm not a reploid!"

"Bring it on!" Kimberly shifted to a kickboxing stance.

"Let's do this!" Cut Man pounded his knuckles together (look familiar?) and charged at Kimberly with both fists swinging.

Kimberly, however, was just a little faster and dodged each of his punches with only a small shred of difficulty. She tried to redirect some of his attacks by moving her arms to block some of his punches. Eventually, she screwed up when she miscalculated his attacks and took a hard shot in the chin. This was followed up by an even harder blow to her stomach. Kimberly struggled to keep standing, wiping a trickle of oil from her mouth.

"Did I hurt you, Kimberly? Maybe we should stop for now…"

"And ruin the fun?" Kimberly spit out some more oil. "Not even Ten-kun would fight me seriously. This is the first time one of my allies has actually hurt me!"

Kimberly started kicking furiously at Cut Man, who shielded his face with his arms. Like Kimberly, Cut Man tried to deflect some of her attacks, but he was having more difficulty than he had expected as he took a hard kick in the mouth. He staggered back and noticed he was missing a tooth.

"You're not bad for an old guy."

"Old? I may be over 100 years old, but I ain't old…wait, that doesn't make sense."

"Just get back to bracing yourself."

"And you do the same."

The monotonous fighting seemed to last for 10 more minutes, when…

"WHAT IS THIS?!"

Tenfold entered the training facility, looking absolutely livid. He looked like he was about to grab the nearest object and skewer it with his katana.

"Wait, your name's Tenfold, right?" Cut Man asked.

"First, you destroy my ride armor, then you attack my girlfriend?!"

"GIRLFRIEND?!" they said in unison.

That made Tenfold stop dead cold as he tried to correct his mistake. "Uh…I mean…"

Tenfold was now officially in trouble. Kimberly's eyes were hidden under her hair and she seemed to exude a "death aura" which made Cut Man double back. "Cut Man, could you excuse me?"

"Sure." Cut Man stepped away from Kimberly, picked up his scissors and fixed them back on his head.

"Now, Kimberly I thought we agreed…"

"We've only been dating for two weeks, that doesn't make me your girlfriend!"

"I thought we had a thing going on!"

The two continued bickering like a typical married couple while Cut Man slipped out of the training room, detected only by one of the security cameras.

"I'll just let them slug it out while I check out the rest of the base."

* * *

The chapter after this is kinda pointless too. Basically Cut Man checks out more aspects of the Hunter Base. 


	11. Chapter 11

To my "faithful" reviewer, bdun, if you keep spamming up my review column just to make me update faster, I will stop updating this altogether. I'm not joking.

Chapter 11

Cut Man continued wandering around Hunter HQ, taking in and trying to memorize everything he saw. He already knew what was in the garage: at least a truckload of power tools, four or five Ride Chasers, and immediately ran out when he laid eyes on a half busted Ride Armor. In the communications room, Alia was now back in her pink armor again. She was checking the progress of other hunters, when she glanced behind her at Cut Man.

"Well, look who's here."

"Um…hi."

"Just so you know, I did see you in my mirror, when you peeked into my room."

Cut Man was now officially busted. Again. He strolled up to Alia, scratching his head nervously. "Uh…yeah, listen. About what happened, I just heard you singing and…"

"Hush…" Alia put a finger on Cut Man's mouth to silence him. "I know what it's like to have an embarrassing moment. How do you think I felt when I saw you peeping?"

"Everyone needs a little attention."

"Verily. But the next time you decide to peek into my room, _knock first_."

"'Kay." Cut Man blushed, for some reason.

Alia turned back to her computer. On it was a layout of a map of eastern Kyoto. Each colored dot on the screen indicated each hunter's current position. There were many colored dots on one point of the map where Hunter HQ was located (big surprise) and there were others all over the map.

"So," Alia said, "what have you been up to today?"

"I…had a little chitchat with Mr. Signas…"

"He really doesn't like people calling him 'Mister.'"

"…and I did some training with Kimberly."

"That's good."

"Now, I'm trying to memorize the layout of this place."

"Heh. Good luck. Even I can't memorize everything. This place has more twists than a pretzel factory."

Cut Man turned to leave. "Well, I'm gonna go. See ya later."

"Cut Man, wait."

He just reached the double doors when he heard Alia's voice again.

"Could you come here for one more thing?"

Cut Man turned away from the door and walked back up to Alia, who was also blushing, for some reason.

"I…hope you'll enjoy being a part of our team."

Cut Man passed a gym area where reploids of all shapes and sizes were either lifting weights or running miles on treadmills. He went back to the living quarters for a few minutes passing by the other rooms. And for some reason, he hastily trotted past Alia's door.

He looked inside Tenfold's room again. What he didn't notice before was that there were dozens of articles of Maverick attacks on his desk. The thing that struck him the most was that half of them were about one character: A tall reploid in blue armor with claws and girly white hair. Also in his room were dozens of makeshift blue prints to a mech suit called "Little Nelly" and several pocket sized tools used for customizing armor parts. Perhaps Tenfold was using these to work on his Ride Armor, or perhaps also, his own armor.

He was already given clearance to look through Kimberly's room. Inside was also a bunk bed fashioned exactly like Tenfold's (Mass production, perhaps?) only her beds were covered with frilly, fluffy pink bed sheets. However, most of her room was covered in shades of lavender. Hanging on the wall of her room was a South Korean flag as well as a board with a list of things to do. Also on the board were several pictures of her and Tenfold. They seem pretty tight. On her desk were little figurines that didn't exactly look like reploids (NetNavi figures), a thick book called _Maverick Hunting for Dummies_, and a small open jewelry box. Most of her bracelets and rings had lots of (you guessed it) amethyst.

Eventually, he left the living quarters and found himself right in front of X and a wiry old man. He was busted again and he knew it. X, however, seemed completely oblivious.

"Cut Man! I was beginning to think I couldn't find you!"

"Oh…uh, hi X! I didn't see you there!"

"That's a new feeling. Anyway, I'd like you to meet someone."

X motioned to the old man on his right. He wore a royal blue robe and supported himself with an ebony cane. He was completely bald, except for his facial hair which consisted of a long, white beard. Cut Man didn't have to look at him twice to tell that he was 100 human.

"Ah, you must be Cut Man," the old man spoke, "My name is Doctor Cain: Former leader of the Maverick Hunters, and father of the reploid race."

"He also used to be a paleontologist. When Signas told him about you, he was totally psyched," X said, "I didn't think a human his age could be so enthusiastic!"

Dr. Cain laughed. "X, my boy, I may be old, but I'm nowhere near dead. Such is the same with you…Cut Man, was it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Signas asked me, since you were sealed in that capsule so long, to bring you up to speed in 21XX."

"All right. Hit me."

"Yes, but let's find a seat first. I believe my old office is still open, and my legs are very tired…"

Meanwhile, back in the training room…

"And another thing…"

"Oh yeah, well what do you think, Cut Man??"

Tenfold and Kimberly were too busy arguing that they didn't notice Cut Man already left.

"Hmm…" Tenfold put a hand to his chin.

"We have to find Cut Man! Signas is going to kill us if he finds out we lost him!"

* * *

Finally, we're getting to something more interesting. In the next chapter, Cut Man learns a little more about the reploid race as well as the current situation with the Maverick Hunters. 

Oh, and by the way, this story takes place a little after X4 and before X5.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay. Here's what happened. I wanted to update sooner, but due to an error in transferring data to my USB drive, the whole thing somehow got deleted. I found the old fic on the forum I first published it on, but because the punctuation got all messed up on there, I'll have to fix each and every one. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Now, I need to put on my SPAM guard.

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Chapter 12

"Have a seat, boys."

Cut Man, X, and Dr. Cain were in his old office. Because Dr. Cain was a little short, his desk was low to the floor, as well as his chair, which Dr. Cain sat down in. His office was decorated with tacky brown paint covering the walls. In a corner was a large filing cabinet with various profiles of Hunters and Mavericks alike. On the wall was a plaque with the words "Employee of the Month" carved into it. However, since the office wasn't used in ages, the plaque was currently empty. On the wall was a digital display which normally shows the current actions of different Hunter units. This, of course, was also not in use because it was currently turned off. There was a videophone and laptop computer on his desk, both of which were covered in dust.

Cut Man and X both pulled up chairs which were both in front of Dr. Cain's desk. Dr. Cain groaned as he sat down in his plush armchair. "Where to begin, where to begin… I suppose I can start with the birth of the reploid race, if that's okay with you, X."

"I don't mind at all."

"All righty, righty then." Dr. Cain cleared his throat and Cut Man listened intently to everything he had to say. "As X told you, a long time ago, I used to be a paleontologist. My crew and I were on an expedition, digging for evidence of prehistoric plant life. What I found was much more than a few dead weeds. I found X here, dormant, sealed inside a capsule, much like yours. I'll never forget young X's sleeping face. He was so cute, like a little baby."

"Doctor, please don't be gross." X was getting annoyed. Cut Man figured the old man said embarrassing stuff like this before.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, yes, of course. Needless to say, I was amazed at X's abilities, particularly with his ability to think, feel, make his own decisions. This was not artificial intelligence Dr. Light created. This was actual intelligence. I read more about it by reading Dr. Light's notes, which I have in here somewhere…"

At that, Dr. Cain started digging through files in his desk. In about 10 seconds, he whipped out a folder marked CLASSIFIED and blew off the dust. He handed it to Cut Man, who hesitated to open it. He pored through various blueprints of X's creation. Everything was there: his intelligence, decision-making, emotion grid, muscle structure, and an interesting thing on X's buster, the Mega Buster Mk. 17. Also in the folder were pages of mathematical and scientific equations. There was also a photo of two of Light's earlier creations: a young girl in a red dress with golden blond hair and a much taller robot in red armor whose head literally spouted fire, like a volcano. He was the robot Cut Man recognized from his dream, Fire Man.

"Impressive, aren't they? After extensively studying X and Dr. Light's notes, I've decided to give birth, so to speak, to a new race of robots, called 'reploids'. I've based them off X's design. As you may have guessed, they too are also given the ability to make their own decisions and regret them later if they have to. They're like a second race of humans. However…" Dr. Cain's expression went grave as he put his fingers together. "…something went wrong. Very wrong."

"Mavericks?" Cut Man guessed.

"Bingo. You see, some reploids don't like humans, for reasons I'll never understand. These bad reploids are identified as Mavericks, and that's why we are here. We have constructed a team of our finest reploids and named ourselves 'Maverick Hunters'. X himself was merely a B-class hunter then. At the time, the team was currently lead by a reploid, whose construction I thought for sure was completely glitch-proof. His name was 'Sigma'. A red reploid named Zero joined us afterwards. He showed remarkable skill and quickly climbed the ranks to becoming a Special A-Class hunter. Months after that, something really bad happened. Sigma went Maverick."

Dr. Cain recalled when Sigma declared a revolt. It was Sigma who instigated many bloody wars against humans, reploids, and even the Earth itself. He told Cut Man about the battles against the X-Hunters, Dr. Doppler, the Repli-Force War, even the time when Sigma infected the Hunters' mother computer. It was then, that Cut Man fell out of his chair. He held his head, twitching violently in pain, for more sparks were emitted.

"That hurt…"

Dr. Cain got out of his chair and got to Cut Man as fast as he could (he is old, after all). "Cut Man, are you all right?"

"I saw…visions…"

"Visions?"

"They were dead. People were dead. And I slaughtered them."

In his vision, Cut Man saw himself in a near dead city. Power lines were falling. Fires were spreading. People were either bleeding, injured, or already dead. And there was Cut Man, smiling wickedly, his scissors and hands covered in blood (like that shot in MS Paint Masterpieces, only more shaded).

Cut Man buried his face in his hands, as though he was about to cry. X put a hand on his shoulder.

"X, Doctor…I've decided. I…I want to become a maverick hunter."

The room was silent for about two minutes. Two giggling reploid girls strolled past Dr. Cainâ€™s door. Then, Dr. Cain chimed in.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Cut Man?"

"I'm positive. Dr. Light's disc said that my brothers and I have done horrible things back in 20XX. But I don't want to do any more. I want to make up for all the bad things I've done. I…" Cut Man flexed his fingers. "I want to become a Maverick Hunter like X and Zero."

Dr. Cain closed his eyes and put his hand on Cut Man's shoulder. He smiled warmly.

"You must do what you feel is right, of course."

Just then, the Maverick Signal alarm blasted through the halls again, and Cut Man clung tightly to X.

"I'll never get used to that."

"Super."

In the next chapter, the Hunters arrive at the Umeda Sky Tower to kick Maverick butt.


	13. Chapter 13

I know this one's short. Like I said in the previous chapter I lost the entire fic due to a data transfer. Not only that, but the forum I originally posted the fic on cleaned the whole thing out due to a server overhaul, so I can't rewrite the chapters that way. But I know somewhere on the internet it's still out there. And until I find it, this fic is officially **DISCONTINUED!**

* * *

Chapter 13

Osaka. Japan's third largest and second most important city. During the events of X3, Osaka became the ground zero for Dr. Doppler's pet project, DopplerTown. A few years after the DopplerTown incident, Osaka once again became one of Japan's most economic cities…until now.

The Umeda Sky Building is a spectacular high rise building in the Kita district of Osaka. It is 173 meters tall and is made up of two main towers connected by a "Floating Garden Observatory" on the 39th floor. The Sky Building, however, was occupied by Mavericks. The first two floors were already taken over by Runnerbombs: skating Mavericks that threw bombs wherever they saw fit. With them were scorpion-type mechaniloids that blasted energy shots from their claws, and, even more so, also shooting bombs from their tails. What they were doing there was unknown…especially now, since one of the Runnerbombs' heads was sliced off by a pair of giant, flying scissors. The Mavericks turned in shock to watch the scissors return to their owner. Cut Man was accompanied by X, Kimberly, and another hunter in orange armor with a large chin and even larger arms, named Onze. Judging by the medal on his jacket, Onze seemed to be the commander of the 11th unit (nice).

"Alia," X said into his comlink, "what's the situation?"

"This building," Alia's voice replied, "is the heart of the Kita district. Although it's a more than decent tourist attraction, it was also Doppler's financial heart. There's a lot of money to be claimed somewhere in that building and I'm guessing that's why the Mavericks are there!"

"Did you guys get all that?"

"Yes, sir!"

The only ones who didn't say anything were Onze, who simply nodded, and Cut Man, who never got his comlink.

"We need as much range against those Runnerbombs and Scorpions as we can get, Hunters," X said. "Let's move out!"

X's buster fixed to his arm as he started blasting through the Runnerbombs, while Cut Man swiftly decapitated each one with his scissors boomerang. Kimberly was in the back, sniping as usual. Commander Onze, however, had an unusual way of beating his opponents: he launched his forearms, which were connected by cables, grabbed the Runnerbombs and slammed them against the wall into submission. He needed no weapons, because his extendable arms were weapons themselves.

"Cut Man! Onze!" X ordered. "They're getting away! Kimberly, cover me!"

Indeed, the Runnerbombs were skating faster than usual, heading to the second floor. Kimberly stood behind X, keeping her Buster Arrow loaded as the three headed forward. Two of the Scorpions blocked off the hunters and blasted them, using the bombs in their tails. There was only one injury: Cut Man's leg was damaged. Onze had to carry him on his shoulder to the second floor, as he "rocket-punched" out the Scorpions. There was no denying why Onze was a commander: he was very freakin' strong.

"They're moving too fast!" Kimberly cried as she tried to aim at the Runnerbombs, "I can't get a lock on them!"

"Don't worry about it, Kimberly," X said, readying his buster, "I'll handle this! Time for my Charge Shot! Everyone, get out of the way!"

Cut Man and Onze moved aside as X got down on one knee and aimed his buster carefully. A blue aura began to surround his body as he gathered energy for his buster shot. The aura began glowing bright white as he let loose a large blast of plasma energy. It seemed to take down the remaining Scorpions and the Runnerbombs…or at least short circuit them (he is a pacifist after all).

At that point, Alia's voice rang out in X's helmet. "Can you hear me, X?"

"What is it, Alia?"

"We've got a problem! There are Mavericks in Ride Armors setting time bombs at the Observatory on the roof. If those bombs go off, not only will the Observatory come crashing to the ground, but the resulting shockwave will cause the entire building to collapse on whatever city there is around it!"

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"I wish I wasn't. I'm not sure how much time there is before they explode, but I'll keep you posted as much as I can. Alia out."


End file.
